Virginia relief pitcher Kyle Crockett, a former Poquoson star, will compete with his team in an NCAA super regional against Mississippi State this weekend.

Virginia relief pitcher Kyle Crockett, a former Poquoson star, will compete with his team in an NCAA super regional against Mississippi State this weekend. (Kyle Laferriere-US PRESSWIRE / US PRESSWIRE)

Crockett was chosen by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round with the 111th overall pick of the draft. He’ll be featured this weekend as U.Va.’s closer in its super regional best-of-three series in Charlottesville against Mississippi State.

After running through two rounds Thursday, plus two short rounds of “competitive balance” picks, the draft picked up Friday with the start of the third round. Chad Pinder, a Virginia Tech infielder who was Crockett’s teammate at Poquoson, was the local highlight of the competitive balance round B picks Thursday night after the second round and prior to the start of the third round.

Crockett, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior who was named first team All-ACC this season, is second in the ACC with 12 saves to go along with a 4-1 record, 1.68 earned run average, 68 strikeouts and just six walks in 53 2/3 innings pitched.

“I give all the credit to the coaches, because they put me in all situations possible in practice,” Crockett said. “So, I feel like every time I go out there, I’m not getting thrown anything I’m not ready for.

“We have a lot of good guys in the bullpen. I know I have good teammates to back me up, and our defense has been playing great these past few games. It’s great to be going out there with confidence when I’m pitching.”

He throws a fastball that regularly registers in the low 90s, and can touch as high 94 miles per hour, but his slider is his out pitch. On the MLB.com website, a brief player info entry on Crockett read:

Crockett has been a mainstay of Virginia's bullpen for three years. This year he moved into the closer's role, where he excelled. Crockett increased his velocity this spring and his fastball now is clocked in the low-90s. Hitters find his sweeping slider hard to lay off of. But Crockett's best asset is his excellent command. He didn't issue his first unintentional walk this year until May 12, 39 innings into the season. Crockett's deceptive, low-three-quarters delivery makes him tough on left-handers. He has a steady demeanor on the mound and could quickly pitch his way to the Major Leagues.

Last weekend, Crockett was named the Most Outstanding Player in an NCAA tournament regional in Charlottesville, where he picked up saves in two of U.Va.’s three games. In saves against Army and Elon, he surrendered a combined four hits and no runs, while striking out seven and walking none in four innings pitched.

“You get the feeling that the game is over when he comes into the game,” U.Va. infielder/pitcher Nick Howard said. “He’s just that dominating right now, and it’s awesome to have that in our repertoire.”